Rising housing costs at CFB Cold Lake prompt one soldier to busk

JORDAN SMALL, QMI Agency

First posted:
Friday, January 10, 2014 04:08 PM MST

"I can barely pay for my food" Darenn Tremblay, a member of the Canadian Forces Base Cold Lake, was outside a Cold Lake establishment on Jan. 9, 2014 protesting a rent increase on subsidized military housing. Jordan Small/Cold Lake Sun

COLD LAKE --﻿ Rising housing costs at CFB Cold Lake prompted one soldier to busk for change on a town sidewalk, where dozens of supporters dropped cash into his upturned combat helmet.

Cpl. Darenn Tremblay, 25, with his guitar in hand, set up a cardboard sign outside a local store Thursday night reading: "I am in the Canadian Forces posted to Cold Lake with a family. Any spare change will help."

The young soldier -- from ﻿Jonquière, Quebec, and posted in CFB Cold Lake for the past two-and-a-half years -- said he is just trying to make ends meet while sending a message to protest the recent increase on Residential Housing Units (RHU) in the booming oil town that is also home to the military.

"I do that because we don't have any money to pay our rent basically," said Tremblay, who is married.

Part of the problem is the high cost of living in Cold Lake, driven by the area's booming oil and gas industry.

Members of the military in Cold Lake receive a $319-per-month Post Living Differential (PLD) -- an allowance designed to stabilize cost of living for military members with respect to the region they are in. But in Cold Lake, it's lower for members than other military communities, like Edmonton where soldiers receive a $684 PLD per month.

The PLD rates in Cold Lake haven't been readjusted to reflect the current economy in over three years.

Housing costs are up while "our salary stays down and like everybody, we got lots of debts," said Tremblay.

Tremblay and other members living on CFB Cold Lake recently received a letter from the federal government that stated: "Please note that should your shelter charge be reduced to less than the fair market value calculated for your unit, the difference between what you are being charged and the market value is considered a taxable benefit as per the Income Tax Act. This information will therefore be reflected in your T4 slips."

Department of National Defence communications officer, Kathy Roberge, said each year the Canadian Forces Housing Agency (CFHA) administers the shelter charge adjustment process in accordance with governmental and departmental policies and regulations. Roberge acknowledged more is needed for Cold Lake families and said several measures are in place to limit shelter charge adjustments.

"For the second consecutive year, rent increases for CAF families with the lowest income (Privates incentive 1 and 2 and Officer Cadets) will be limited to the national average increase of 2.25 per cent," Roberge said.

There was a 10 per cent reduction applied to the shelter charges in Cold Lake in 2010, authorized by the Minister of National Defence, Peter MacKay, and will continue to be applied during fiscal year 2014/2015.

"However, in spite of the 10% reduction, shelter charges for DND housing in Cold Lake will increase by approximately 6% over the 2013/2014 rates, not including last year's 10% reduction, due to the rapidly growing local economy and high housing demand," Roberge said. The annual shelter charge adjustment for 2014/15 will go into effect April 1.

Tremblay is also trying to keep up with rising bills -- including large heating bills for aging military housing -- by taking on second jobs.

"We keep paying heat bills like crazy," Tremblay said. "Basically we just keep paying more and more forever.

"This is killing me right now. I can barely pay for my food so that's where I am right now."

In 2013, the Ombudsman for the Department of National Defence, Pierre Daigle, reported that between 10 per cent to 35 per cent of CFB Cold Lake workers take other jobs to supplement their income.

Daigle also stressed that CFB Cold Lake has a "high" military release rate -- 8.33 per cent in 2012, and on track to be 12 per cent to 13 per cent in 2013 -- and some Canadian Forces members opted to retire in order to avoid Cold Lake postings.

Tremblay said he was able to manage his finances well before arriving in Cold Lake a couple years ago.

"I had money in my account, now it keeps going down and down and I can't do anything about it," said Tremblay, who witnesses said was later ushered off the sidewalk by military personnel. He has since been told by his commanders not to speak with reporters.

"I was planning on having a child, but I don't want to raise a child in a kind of place like Cold Lake and I could not even pay for feeding them."

Should soldiers be better compensated?

Reader's comments »

As Advertised in the Edmonton SUN

Rising housing costs at CFB Cold Lake prompt one soldier to busk

JORDAN SMALL, QMI Agency

First posted:
Friday, January 10, 2014 04:08 PM MST

Rising housing costs at CFB Cold Lake prompted one soldier to busk for change on a town sidewalk, where dozens of supporters dropped cash into his upturned combat helmet.
Cpl. Darenn Tremblay, 25, with his guitar in hand, set up a cardboard sign outside a local store Thursday night reading: "I am in the Canadian Forces posted to Cold Lake with a family. Any spare change will help."
The young soldier -- from ﻿Jonquière, Quebec, and posted in CFB Cold Lake for the past two-and-a-half years -- said he is just trying to make ends meet while sending a message to protest the recent increase on Residential Housing Units (RHU) in the booming oil town that is also home to the military.